New Vegas: An Old Man's Adventure
by xavwalski
Summary: Gregory, an old courier wakes up in the small town of Goodsprings after two nearly-deadly shots to the head. Unfortunately, the game was rigged from the start, and his troubles are nowhere near over.
1. Chapter 1: A Rude Awakening

Most stories start with a hook.

This story starts with two bullets to the head and a live burial.

A blurry recording. A man, old, wakes from an unnatural slumber. Another man, bearing a black shirt and brown pants, with a gray mustache, sits in a nearby chair, and starts talking to the stranger "You're awake. How about that." The stranger tries to get up, struggling. "Whoa, easy there. You've been out a couple of days now. Why don't you just relax a second, get your bearings." The man sits up, stares at the doctor for a second. The doc just keeps talking. "How about your name. Can you tell me your name?" The man is still for a second, thinks about who he is. Opens his mouth, and says "Gregory." Doc looks to the side, before he tells, "Well, I can't say it's what I'd have picked for you. But, if that's your name, that's your name. I'm Doc Mitchell. Welcome to Goodsprings."

The Doc expects a reaction, but gets none, so he starts up again. "Now, I hope you don't mind, but I had to go rooting around in your noggin to pull all the bits of lead out. I take pride in my needlework, but you better tell me if I left anything out of place." Mitchell pulls a RobCo Reflectron from under his seat, hands it to Gregory, and waits for a reaction. The picture starts to get clearer, mainly around Gregory. What was just a blur is now a defined face. His skin is tanned, and his build is light. Wrinkles are obvious, but a thick black beard and hair remain.

Gregory remains silent, but hands the Reflectron back to Mitchell. The Doc sets the Reflectron back down, and stands up. "Okay, no sense keeping you in bed anymore. Let's see if we can get you on your feet." The Doc helps Gregory up from the bed, luckily without trouble. The Doc decides on something in a second, and tells Gregory. "Good. Why don't you try and walk to that Vigor-Testor Machine over there. Take it slow now, it ain't a race." The surroundings become clearer, and it is obvious that they are in an old pre-war home, repaired to be livable once more. Gregory and Mitchell walk over to the other side of the room, past various medical equipment and supplies.

Gregory speaks up for once."How is this supposed to help anything?" The Doc looks at him strangely for a moment, before he replies. "It should tell us how well you've recovered." Gregory shrugs, and grabs the handle on the odd machine. After a moment, the machine beeps, and numbers appear in what were previously blank spaces.

5 Strength. 6 Perception. 5 Endurance. 6 Charisma. 7 Intelligence. 5 Agility. 6 Luck.

The Doc sees the numbers, and tells Gregory, "Yeah, that's a pretty standard score right there, but after you went through, I'd say that's great. Well, we know your vitals are good. But that don't mean those bullets didn't leave you nuttier than a Bighorner dropping. What do you say you take a seat on my couch and we go through a few questions? Just to see if you dogs are still barking."

They walk into the nearby room, adorned with empty bookshelves along with a couch and a separate chair. Gregory looks at the ramshackle couch, before he turns and sits down on it, while the Doc takes a seat on the chair. The Doc looks at Gregory and starts. "All right. I'm going to say and word, and I want you to tell me the first word that comes to mind. Dog."

"Cat"

"House."

"Shelter."

"Night."

"Shroud."

"Bandit."

Gregory pauses for a second."Swiss Cheese."

"Light."

"Dark."

"Mother"

"Caretaker."

The Doc writes the last of his results before looking back at Gregory. "Okay, now I got a few statements. I want you to tell me how much they sound like something you'd say. First one: Conflict just ain't in my nature."

Gergory thinks for a moment. "No opinion."

"I ain't given to relying on others for support."

This one comes easy. "That sounds right."

"I'm always fixing to be the center of attention."  
This one does as well. "No way."

"I'm slow to embrace new ideas."

"Are you sure these are real? Who wouldn't embrace things?"

"I charge into my problems head on."

"Nope."

"Okay. Almost done here. What do you say you have a look at this? Tell me what you see."

"I see...a chemical reaction."

"Okay how about this one?"

"A ship, at sea."

"Last one."

"A light...surrounded by darkness."

"Well, that's all she wrote. I don't have nothing to compare it to, so maybe you should just have a look at the results. See if it seems alright.

The Doc hands Gergory the clipboard he's been writing on. The notes are defined mainly by three statements. **Aptitude for Energy-based Weaponry. Proficiency with basic Repair and Technology. Shows compassion for others.** Gregory reads the rest of the notes, and hands it back to Mitchell.

The Doc puts the clipboard down, and stands up. "All right. I guess that about does it. I'll see you out." Gregory and the Doc make their way to the door, passing a hallway nearby. Mitchell stops at the door, and pulls a box of supplies up from the floor. "Here. These are yours. Was all you had on you when you was brought in. I hope you don't mind, but I gave the note a look. I thought it might help me find the next of kin. But it was just something about a platinum chip. Well, if you're heading back out there, you ought to have this." The Doc takes a strange watch-like machine, and attaches it to Gregory's hand. "They call it a 'Pip-Boy'. I grew up in one of them vaults they made before the war. We all got one. Ain't much use to me now, but you might want such a thing, after what you've been through. I know what it's like, having something taken from you." The Doc grabs a blue jumpsuit, adorned with yellow stripes a large, white 21 on the back. "And put this on too, so the locals don't pick on you for lacking modesty. Never was much my style anyway."

Gregory takes the box, and tells his farewell to the Doctor. "Thanks for patching me up, Doc. Don't think I would've survived without you." The Doc, replies modestly. "Don't mention it, it's what I'm here for. Farewell." The Doc opens the door, and the light of sunlight blinds Gregory for a second, before he adjusts, and sets the box down to look through it. Inside, he finds a AEP7 Military-grade Laser Pistol, along with 49 Small Energy Cells. At the bottom, he finds the note Mitchell mentioned, and pulls it out, along with 13 Stimpacks, and a selection of spare food.

Finished gathering everything in the box, Gregory takes a look at the town. A road in front of him turns and heads to the nearby General Store and the Prospector Saloon. A robot, large, box-like, and blue, rolls on its one wheel down the road. Gregory pauses for a second, before heading towards the 'Goodsprings General Store'.


	2. Chapter 2: A Man in Need

The door to the Goodsprings General Store creaks open, and the old wooden door scrapes across the floor. Gregory walks through the door, seeing the merchant cleaning behind the counter. The merchant notices Gregory, and starts talking. "You must be the one Doc Mitchell was patching up. Way I heard it, I didn't think you'd be walking out of that office. I've got plenty of supplies for sale. Even got some specialty ammo – well worth the caps if you as me." Gregory pulls his AEP7 off his belt and takes the Small Energy Cells out. "Do you have any of these?" The merchant crouches down, and shuffles through something under the counter, before standing up and placing a collection of energy cells on the counter. "These, right?" The merchant says, seemingly inexperienced. Gregory gives a short nod. "How much for all of them?" The merchant counts up the cells on the counter, and inserts something into the cash register nearby. "There's 39 of those cells here, so that's...117 caps." Gregory takes out his caps, and counts them, reaching 157. He separates 40 of them into a separate bag and hands over the rest. "I noticed you're wearing that old jumpsuit. If you need better armor, I have some leather armor in the back. Should protect a whole lot better." Gregory pauses for a second. "I'll consider it. Farewell." The creaky door opens again, and the camera switches to above the Prospector Saloon door.

Gregory walks onto the platform in front of the saloon, and sits down on one of the chairs, near another settler watching the dust storms. "Howdy. What can Easy Pete do for you?" Gregory thinks for a second. "Do you know anything about the people who attacked me?" Easy Pete starts talking a grimace on his bearded face. "The one in the fancy suit seemed to calling the shots, that's much as I know. Other folks in town probably know more. Word of advice, before you go? If you ever catch up with him, watch out. That man's got cold eyes like a snake. Can't be trusted, I'd say." Gregory watches the sign nearby flutter in the wind. "Thank you for the information." He gets up, and walks into the Prospector Saloon, and the image is now from a high corner of the room.

Gregory is greeted by a dog, growling at the new visitor. "Cheyenne, stay. Don't worry, she won't bite unless I tell her to." Gregory looks at the friendly young woman. "I'm a little short on caps. I don't suppose there's any work in Goodsprings." he asks. The woman sighs. "Not in Goodsprings, no. But if you're up for a little scavenging there's always the schoolhouse to the south. Most of whats in there is junk, but there's this old safe that even Easy Pete wasn't able to crack with dynamite. If want to take at it, feel free to."

"Thanks."

"Until next time."

Gregory walks back out the door, and the image now shows a large red schoolhouse as Gregory walks toward it. He pulls out his AEP7 and uses his free hand to open the door, allowing the mantises inside to jump out. Startled, Gregory fires at the mantises over and over, until all of them are dead, using up 31 of his precious Small Energy Cells. He holsters his AEP7 again, and makes his way to the safe on a nearby wall. A terminal also lies on top of the counter, which Gregory attempts to use after his lockpicking attempts do nothing. "Contest, maybe? Setting? Monthly! Damn." Gregory looks frustrated, seemingly by the computer protection. "Fishing? Really? Who would...nevermind." Gregory types for a second, and the safe clicks and slides open. From inside he pulls out a couple bottles of water, a box of Mentats, some pre-war currency, along with some wine, a strange wrist-mounted device, and what looks like a stimpack with wristband attached to it, and some nuka-cola bottlecaps, 13 to be exact. The door, this one luckily not creaks opens and Gregory walks out of the schoolhouse.

The image switches to a viewpoint just slightly taller than Gregory, who seems to be walking towards it. "Howdy partner! Might I say, you are looking fit as a fiddle." A voice comes from the robot that the image is showing from. Gregory takes a long look at the robot, before coming to a startling conclusion. "I've never seen a robot like you before." The robot seems unfazed. "I'm a Securitron, Robco security model 2060-B. If you ever see one of my brothers, tell them Victor says howdy." Gregory seems to be slightly disturbed by the robots personality, but continues on his way with a "Farewell." The old wooden door creaked open again as Gregory lugged his bag through the door of the General Store. He dumps the bag on the floor, and pulls out the mantis eggs, mysterious wrist device and the customized stimpack. "Do you know what these are?" The merchant takes a look at the items, handling them. "Well, these round things are some kinda egg, I think. I'll take them off your hands for 7 caps apiece." He sets the eggs on the counter, then picks up the wrist-mounted device. "I'm pretty sure this is a Stealth Boy, pretty rare pre-war tech, but useless for most people. I'll only give you 55 for this, it's hard to sell." He sets down the Stealth Boy and picks up the modified stimpack. "And this is a Super Stimpack. Stronger than a regular one, but it's dangerous to use more than one at once. I'd give you 82 caps for this, but it's another thing I'd recommend you keep." Gergory grabs the Stealth Boy and Super Stimpack, and takes another look through his bag. He puts a stack of pre-war bills, a pack of cigarettes, a couple magazines, wine, and a variety of drugs on the counter. "What will you give me for all this?" The merchant looks over the items, imputing something into the cash register before speaking. "Well, all these items would be easy sells, especially those chems. I'll give you 106 caps for all this and the eggs. Also, while you were gone, I found a box of those cells you wanted. I'll give them to you for 145 caps, but if you need ammo, it'll be well spent." Gregory pulls out his bag of caps and takes a quick count. "I'll give you 39 caps plus all those items. That should cover it, right?" The merchant smiles, obviously pleased on the sale. "Perfectly." A quick exchange happens, and Gregory walks out of the store with a hundred extra cells.

The image goes to static for a second, before showing the bar area of the Prospector Saloon. A woman with wavy black hair and a man with an armored outfit are arguing. Gregory walks in from the back of the saloon. "I'm done being nice." Says the man. "If you don't hand Ringo over soon, I'm going to get my friends and we're burning this town to the ground, got it?" The woman isn't listening. "We'll keep that in mind. Now, if you're not gonna buy something, get out." Gregory walks to the bar area and greets the woman. She turns, and looks at him. "Well you've been causing quite a stir. Glad I finally got to meet you. I'm Trudy, welcome to the Prospector Saloon." Gregory stops for a second. "I overheard your argument. What was that all about?" Trudy frowns for a second. "It looks like our little town got itself dragged into the middle of something we don't want anything to do with. About a week ago, this trade, Ringo, comes into town. Survivor of an attack, he says. Bad men after him, needs a place to hide. We figured he was just in shock, so we gave him a place to lie low. We didn't actually expect anyone to come after him."

"Where'd you let Ringo hide?"

"He's holed up at the abandoned gas station up the hill."

"What if I helped Ringo?"

"If you were able to get Ringo out of this mess, you'd have a decent reputation around Goodsprings. I might even set you up with a discount. Of course, helping Ringo would make those Powder Gangers real mad, and they've got a lot of friends out there."

Gregory thinks for a second. "Well, I guess I'm off to help Ringo."

"Be careful out there." Gregory sighs, and walks out of the Prospector Saloon.

The image now shows a gas station, deserted and broken. Gregory walks up to the only door. He slides it open, and the image changes to show a man holding a 9x19mm pistol at the door as Gregory opens it. "That's close enough." He says. "Who are you, and what do you want with me?" Gregory holds his hands above his head. "I'm not an enemy, if that's what you're worried about." The man relaxes, and puts the pistol back on his belt. "Sorry about the gun. You just caught off guard, that's all. We got off to a bad start." Gregory mumbles "No shit." while Ringo continues. "What say we start over with a friendly game of Caravan? You know how to play?" Gregory looks at Ringo like he's stupid. "Yes, I know how to play. Let's go a round." The image goes static a second, then clears with Gregory handing Ringo 18 caps. "Another round." The image goes static, and returns with the two talking.

"Did you know there's a man named Joe Cobb looking for you?" Gregory asks. Ringo sighs. "Yeah. He doesn't look very tough, though. I hear he's afraid I'll shoot him down from one of the windows when I see him, and he's right. But, I'll have a much bigger problem once his friends show up. There's no way I could handle all of them in a gunfight."

"What are you going to do about them?"

"I'm gonna lay low for as long as I can, assuming the town doesn't throw me to the wolves. I've got no chance against the gang on my own."

"I could help."

"We'd just end up sharing the same grave if it's just the two of us. Now, if some other people in town were also on board..."

"I see what I can do."

"Start with Sunny Smiles. She's been friendlier than most around here."

Gregory exits the building, and heads towards the Prospector Saloon once more.


	3. Chapter 3: The Route Through Goodsprings

The image fades back in from static to show the Prospector Saloon. Gregory sits with Sunny Smiles. "I'm going to help Ringo take on that gang. I need your help." He asks. Sunny interrupts, "Say no more. I'm in."

"Well, that was easy."

"Joe Cobb talks about leaving us alone if we hand over Ringo, but I know his type. He and his friends will come for the town eventually. However, between you, me and Ringo, we aren't exactly a force to be reckoned with. A lot of people around here look up to Trudy. If you could convince Trudy to join us, some of the folks in town might decide to help out as well."

"Know anyone in particular who could help?"

"I know Easy Pete's got a stock of dynamite somewhere, and Chet just got a shipment of leather armor we could borrow. There's also a good chance we'll all end up with extra holes in us, so if Doc Mitchell could cough up some stimpacks, that'd be great.".

"Alright. I'll be back." Gregory walks to the bar area of the Saloon, and greets Trudy.

"So, you're planning on taking on Joe Cobb's gang." She says. "It's a big risk, but I suppose you have to what you think is right."

Gregory thinks for a second before speaking. "We're a little outnumbered. Think you could help?"

"All the more reason for me to sit this one out. I'll be rooting for you though."

Gregory sighs, and walks out of the Saloon. The image goes static, then shows the area just outside the Prospector Saloon.

Gregory sits down next to Easy Pete. "I hear you've got dynamite." He says. "It would help us beat the gang chasing Ringo."

"Too dangerous." Pete warns. "Gonna kill all yourselves if I let you touch it. Better to leave it buried – safer that way."

Gregory just sighs. "Never mind then. So long." The image cuts to the Goodsprings General Store. Gregory walks up to Chet. "You looking to buy some supplies?" Chet asks. Gregory shakes his head. "I need supplies to fight the gangers.

Chet starts speaking a bit more insistent. "Now just hold on. I never voted to take on the Powder Gangers. That's a thousand cap investment you're talking about.

"The town's at stake." Gregory insists. "That has to be worth more than a few supplies."

"Look," Chet replies. "You're bringing this on yourselves. There's no way I'm getting involved. But, hey, I'm sure buy what you need..."

"Nevermind." Gregory says. "Have a nice day."

The image cuts back to the abandoned gas station. "So what's going on?" Ringo starts. "Did Sunny agree to help us?"

"Sunny's with us." Gregory says. "But that's it."

"I guess we have to make do. I hope I'm ready."

Sunny bursts through the door. "Time to look alive." She states. "The Powder Gangers are here to play."

"How many?" Gregory asks.

"At least ten, including Joe Cobb. They look pretty mean."

"Let's go." Gregory concludes. The image blurs out of recognition, but returns high above the town, overlooking the battle.

Sunny sits by the General Store with a varmint rifle, and Ringo with Gregory take cover in the road. Gregory uses his AEP7 to take out one before they get to the town. Sunny and Cheyenne take down another in front of the Saloon, but another Ganger armed with a cleaver charges toward them. Sunny is able to take him down with her 5.56mm Rifle before Cheyenne takes serious damage. Gregory finishes reloading his AEP7 and takes down two more, while Sunny and Ringo take down another two. Each of the three take down a final opponent. Ringo runs up to Gregory and hands him some caps. "I owe you a huge favor for this. Here – these are technically Crimson Caravan funds, but I know they'll understand once I explain things."

You're welcome." Gregory says. "I would've done the same for anyone in that kind of need."

"I'll stick around for a bit longer." Ringo says. "But I'll be gone in a couple days. If you ever visit New Vegas, look me up in the Crimson Caravan camp."

Gregory loots the Gangers, then heads to the Saloon to relax, and the image goes to static.

The image returns behind Gregory, now armored in leather and a desperado hat, wielding both a AEP7 Laser Pistol and .357 Cowboy Revolver. He walks down a road, with the Goodsprings sign waving behind him. The image cuts to high above the wasteland, before focusing in on a small campground where Gregory is. He walks up to a mobile home, and a man exits it an approaches him. "Hello?" The man says. "Can you help me?"

"What's wrong?" Gregory inquires.

"My girl is trapped by geckos on the ridge and I can't get to her. Please, she's going to die!"

"I'll see what I can do." Gregory tells the man.

"You will?" Says the man disbelievingly. "Thank you for helping me. Please hurry."

The image cuts to the top of the ridge, with dead geckos strewn about. Gregory looks through the wreckage for the girl. "Hello? Girl, it's safe now! Your father wants to find you!" A shadowy figure appears behind him.

"Sorry I tricked you, but thanks for clearing out those Geckos." The figure says as Gregory turns around. "Now I can get that stash up there...after I deal with you."

Gregory pulls his emergency knife out of its holster as the man pulls his pistol out. Gregory manages to stab the man in the head before he gets a shot off. "Bastard. Don't double-cross someone who killed things you couldn't." The image goes to static, then resumes above the town of Primm, as Gregory walks towards the west area of the town.

A soldier from the New California Republic stops Gregory before he can head into Primm. "Hey, where the hell do you think you're going?" The soldier says. "Primm is off limits."

"What?" Gregory asks. "Why?"

"Some convicts from the prison up the road have taken over the town." The soldier informs Gregory. "Everyone inside is either dead or in hiding. What's more. There's two tribes of raiders causing trouble in this area as well. You'd be safer heading back to Goodsprings."

"Shouldn't you be protecting the town?" Gregory inquires.

"We'd love to, but they fall under NCR jurisdiction. Even if they did, we're in no shape to protect them." The soldier explains.

"Why not?"

"We don't have the equipment to take out the convicts, and even if we did, we'd need more soldiers. Talk to Lieutenant Hayes if you really want to know more. He's in a tent down the road. Stay on the west of the overpass if you like not getting shot." The soldier goes back to guarding the road. Gregory walks into the town, and the image goes into static once more.


	4. Chapter 4: Trouble in Primm

The image blurs back from the static in a brown tent. Inside, two soldiers sat, one in the tan outfit of the NCR, another in the brown outfit of NCR armor and a beret. Gregory pulls the metal door to the tent aside, seeing the soldiers within. "Is one of you Lieutenant Hayes?" He asks.

The man in the beret stands up. "I'm Lieutenant Hayes of the New California Republic." He says. "What's your business?"

"One of your soldiers guarding the gate said that you could elaborate on the condition of the town." Gregory tells the lieutenant. "In particular, why you can't protect the town."

Hayes sighs. "The problem is with supplies. The convicts are better armed and better organized than are intel suggested. I'm trying to get some reinforcements here, maybe some half-decent guns, but...shit...things are just going slow."

"Anything I can do to help while I'm here?" Gregory asks.

"Not really. Not unless you can come up with ten soldiers and guns for all of them."

"Damn." Gregory mumbles. "Well, goodbye lieutenant."

"Travel cafefully." The lieutenant goes back to pacing around the tent.

Gregory steps out of the tent, and the image cuts to high above Primm, looking down on the overpass.

"Are those...?"

"Yeah."

"And you didn't disarm them...why?"

"You can do that?"

Gregory sighs, shakes his head, and walks through the overpass, pressing the button on the side for automatic disarming, before stuffing them in the bag on his back. The image zooms in as he crosses the rest of the overpass, showing 5 pistols and a knife on his belt, and a varmint rifle on his back. He pulls a 10x25mm Pistol out and crouches down as he walks toward the the large "Bison Steve Casino". Carefully he walks on the side of the large white building next to him. Two voices drifted, from somewhere up ahead. "Hey, man. You hear about that bullshit?"

"What? What happened?"

"The rest of the gang screwed us over and left us to the NCR."

"What the hell? Really?"

Gregory, seeing the turning of his path, peeks ahead, seeing the two convicts waiting at near the entrance of the ruined building. He stills, and takes aim before killing one instantly by a shot in the head before popping back behind the wall.

"Shit! Get over here you son of a bitch!"

Gregory waits as the footsteps and voice gets closer, before popping back out – right into the face of the convict – and slamming his pistol into his face. The convict, nose broken and bleeding, starts firing wildly, determined to kill Gregory. One lucky shot gets Gregory in the leg before he puts the convict out of his misery.

"Goddammit." Gregory utters, realizing the closest doctor is in Goodsprings, at least two days walk, possibly three with the injury.

Gregory ruffles through his bag, looking for the medical kit he got from Doc Mitchell in Goodsprings. He finally finds and grabs it, and the image goes static, but returns in the same spot, although with a heavy bandage around the bullet wound and and empty medical kit box. Gregory stands up, slowly, carefully, using the wall as a stand. He walks towards the doors to the dilapidated Vikki and Vance Casino. The door slides open, revealing an older man. "I don't know what it was that brought you to Primm, but you might want to rethink your plans." The man says. "Town's gone to hell."

"And you are...?" Gregory asks.

"Johnson Nash's my name. Husband to Ruby Nash." He tells Gregory. "Lived in Primm for eight years now, thick and thin. I run the Mojave Express here in Primm."

"You run the branch here?" Gregory asks. "I'm a courier with the Express."

"Well, I don't got any work right now, sorry to say." Johnson elaborates.

"That's not quite what I meant." Gregory tells Johnson. "I lost a package."

"If you have the paperwork still, I'll tell you what I can."

Gregory hands Johnson the delivery order he got from Doc Mitchell.

"Oh, so you're talking about one of them packages." Johnson says. "That job had strange written all over it. But we couldn't turn down the caps."

"Some men stole the package, one in a checkered suit with a few thugs. You see them?"Gregory asks.

"Well...now that you mention it, a few nights back one of the townies was out scavenging." Johnson recounts. "He said something about a fella with a daisy suit coming through with a few Great Khans misfits. They was talking about a "chip"."

"One of those men shot me." Gregory elaborates. "I need to know where they went."

"Well...for that, your best bet is Deputy Beagle. Since they came to town he's been taking notes on them." Johnson informs Gregory. "He was slinking around the Bison Steve when your pretty-boy friend came through."

"Thank you. Do you know of somewhere I can sleep?" Gregory inquires.

"Well, we're out of beds here. Try the NCR camp across the way, they probably have something." Johnson says as he closes the doors again, before a "click" sounds and the door locks. The image goes to static.

When the image clears up again, showing early morning and dark sky outside of the Bison Steve Hotel and Lucky Casino. Gregory walks towards the Bison Steve, 10x25mm Pistol and 9x19mm Pistol on his hips, and a 5.56 Varmint Rifle on his back. He reaches the door, and crouches down before pulling his Varmint Rifle off his back. He care fully slides open the door and shuts its quietly behind him. A convict walks past from a hallway, and Gregory quickly shoots, taking down the lone gunman. Taking a moment to observe his surroundings, Gregory notices a terminal on the side, and goes to use it before anyone else patrols by. After a second, Gregory walks back away, deterred by the security on the terminal. As he turns to the side, another convict, having found the body, rushes Gregory with a half-broken tire iron. Firing from the hip, Gregory manages to take down the runner before he gets within distance. The brief pause from danger allows Gregory to loot the two bodies for the ammo on them, along with their Varmint Rifles to use as spare parts.

Walking out into the hallway, Gregory sees the remains of a gift shop, and after checking to ensure no danger, makes his way into it. Having already been looted to all hell, nothing remain but old books and toys. At least, until finds a old locked safe behind the counter. He tries to pick the lock, but after a second, he is stumped and makes his way back out. Heading back through the hallway, Gregory enters a large lobby room, with three exits. One being a closed blue door, another looking like another hallway, and another blue door. Deciding the best way to find Beagle is with the convicts, he takes the most likely path; the first blue door. He tries to open it, but it is apparently locked, and beyond Gregory's ability to lockpick or force open. Deciding the same is probably true of the other door, he sneaked into the "hallway" which soon became apparent was another lobby into a bigger room. Hiding behind one of the doors, Gregory tries to listen to the convicts, until one comes walking straight through the door he was hiding by. "Hey, who the hell-" The convicts question was stopped by a 5.56 bullet through the skull. Unfortunately, a gunshot only furthered the suspicion of the other convicts. "You hear that?"

"You think...?"

"Kill whoever got him!"

Gregory decides that facing a bunch of armed convicts in a small, unfamiliar space was probably not the best option. So he quickly rushes backwards, into the gift shop from before, where a long line of sight would help. From there,a few 'plinks' from his Varmint Rifle was enough to down the first convict that entered his sight. Before Gregory could reload, two more convicts rusn in, and stop by the body of their fallen partner before seeing Gregory. One, armed with a metal monstrosity, quickly set the beast down before aiming it on the ground. A ball of flame launches out of the machine, burning the floor before colliding with the the door to the gift shop – which Gregory had just jumped back from. He drops the Varmint Rifle and quickly draws his AEP7, aimed at average head height to deliver death. A convict suddenly runs into the gift shop with a lead pipe, but the rash tactic allows Gregory to drop the convict before any damage is done.

Outside, the convict with the Incinerator sits and waits for Gregory to come out of his vantage point.


End file.
